Finance & Business World

South Korean manufacturers' confidence fell to the lowest level in more than three years as record fuel prices increased production costs amid a global economic slowdown.

An index measuring businesses expectations for July dropped to 77 from 88 in June, according to a survey of 1,554 manufacturers released by the Bank of Korea in Seoul today. That's the weakest reading since February 2005, and a score lower than 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

Business and consumer confidence is declining worldwide as oil costs, which have doubled in the past year, erode household incomes and squeeze corporate profits. South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth-largest, expanded at the slowest pace in more than a year last quarter while inflation has accelerated to the highest rate since 2001.

“Deteriorating sentiment will drag down the already slowing global economy further this year,'' said Chun Chong Woo, an economist at SC First Bank Korea Ltd. in Seoul. “The outlook depends on when oil prices will peak out.''

South Korean manufacturers were surveyed this month at the same time as truck drivers' nationwide went on strike because of rising fuel costs and amid mass street protests over the resumption of U.S. beef imports.

Hyundai Motor Co.'s labor union voted on June 28 in favor of a strike to demand higher pay and to protest the U.S. beef imports.

President Lee Myung Bak's approval has plunged more than half to 21 percent since he took office in February, according to a survey by newspaper Chosun Ilbo, which gave a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points fast cash payday loan.

Shares Decline

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index, which has dropped 11 percent this year, fell 0.2 percent to 1,681.77 at 10:15 a.m. in Seoul, led by exporter Samsung Electronics Co. The won slipped 0.3 percent to 1,045.15 against the U.S. dollar.

U.S. consumers were the gloomiest in 28 years in June and European confidence fell to the lowest in three years.

In Japan tomorrow, the central bank's Tankan poll of manufacturers may show sentiment sank to the lowest in almost five years, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

An index measuring South Korean manufacturers' outlook for domestic sales declined to 100 from 105, while that for exports fell to 110 from 113. Exporters, so far, have been able to weather the economic slowdown in the U.S. by boosting sales to China and other emerging markets.

An index of non-manufacturing companies' expectations for July plunged to 75 from 82 as concern grew that sales and profits may slow. Construction and transport companies led the decline.

The Bank of Korea surveyed the manufacturers and 791 non- manufacturers between June 17 and June 23.

Source

With a zeal fueled by rocketing oil and food prices, U.S. Congress is suddenly determined to bring rampant trading under control.

But rather than looking at excess consumption and demand, Congress is entering the murky waters of trying to control soaring prices, mulling bills that could well backfire and drive funds to less transparent but more accommodative bourses offshore.

In just one of a slew of bills, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed largely symbolic legislation on Thursday ordering regulators to “curb immediately” excessive speculation in commodity markets.

“It opens up a set of new tools they are not using,” said Maryland Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen, referring to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s emergency powers.

Chimed in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “The American people should not be punished at the pump for the actions of oil speculators.”

Of all the bills, market players are most concerned about the Senate’s End of Speculation Act which calls for an increase in margin requirements as a blunt tool to tackle price speculation payday loans in 1 hour. That bill has yet to be debated.

It is not clear what laws, if any, will emerge from Congress, especially with the White House adamant that it is inadequate supplies rather speculation causing the price shocks. But a White House veto could well be overridden if enough Republicans join the angry Democratic majority, as happened with Thursday’s vote ordering the CFTC to take action.

Members of Congress will no doubt be facing an angry electorate over the Fourth of July break. Summer vacation will take a much bigger bite out of family budgets, with gasoline firmly above the $4 a gallon mark and oil doubling over the past year to above $140 a barrel. 

Read more

Consumer spending probably rose in May by the most in six months as tax rebates enabled households to overcome soaring fuel bills, economists said before a report today.

The 0.7 percent increase followed a 0.2 percent rise in April, according to the median forecast of 72 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Another report may show consumer sentiment this month plunged to the lowest level since 1980.

After filling up their autos' gas tanks, Americans used the stimulus checks to buy electronics, clothes and furniture last month, helping to keep the economy expanding. At the same time, the slump in confidence, a loss of jobs and tighter credit raise the risk that growth will falter once the rebates' effect fades.

“Consumer spending will suffer around the turn of the year as the influence of fiscal stimulus disappears,'' said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut. The economy “may not accelerate much until early 2009.''

The Commerce Department's report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Estimates of the spending gain in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 0.1 percent to 1 percent. Incomes likely rose 0.4 percent in May after a 0.2 percent increase the prior month.

A report due at 10 a.m. from Reuters/University of Michigan may show the index of consumer sentiment fell to 56.7 in June, the weakest level since 1980, according to the survey median. The forecast matches a preliminary estimate issued on June 13 and would follow a reading of 59.8 in May.

Prices Rise

The spending report may also show that inflation accelerated. The Federal Reserve's preferred price gauge, known as the core measure because it excludes food and fuel, probably rose 0.2 percent last month after a 0.1 percent April gain, the median forecast showed.

Core prices in the 12 months ended in May probably climbed 2.2 percent, the biggest year-over-year increase since December 500 fast cash.

Fed policy makers this week kept the benchmark rate unchanged at 2 percent, ending a series of rate cuts, and said higher energy costs threatened to boost inflation. Still, they maintained a forecast that prices would “moderate'' later this year, according to their statement.

Policy makers also said that “although downside risks to growth remain, they appear to have diminished somewhat,'' partly as a result of “some firming in household spending.''

A Commerce report earlier this month showed retail sales rose more than twice as much as forecast in May. Private surveys indicate the spending splurge continued this month as discounters, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp., offered rebate-linked promotions.

Rebate Total

About $70.8 billion worth of tax rebate checks were distributed through June 20, according to the Treasury Department.

There are signs the boost will not last. American Express Co. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault said this week that credit indicators have deteriorated beyond the company's expectations.

The rebates aren't large enough to benefit manufacturers like Brunswick Corp., the maker of Sea Ray yachts and Boston Whaler fishing boats. The Lake Forest, Illinois-based company said yesterday it plans to close four more North American plants and may fire as much as 10 percent of its workforce after U.S. powerboat sales fell to the lowest in more than 40 years.

Conditions in the energy, housing and labor markets “continue to erode U.S. consumers' confidence and are reducing their ability and desire to purchase discretionary items,'' Chief Executive Officer Dustan McCoy said in a statement.

Source

Cox Communications Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. both ranked high in a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey for business customers.

Qwest’s Business Markets Group was named the leader in customer service among four major providers. Qwest’s group earned the highest score in customer satisfaction for large businesses, ranking highest in five out of the six factors.

Cox did the same thing in the small and midsize business category, a category Qwest finished last out of five companies. Cox did not place in the large business category because it had too small a statistical sample cash advances.

Denver-based Qwest (NYSE:Q) is one of the major telecommunications companies in Phoenix and Arizona. Cox is a private company with major operations in Phoenix and Arizona.

Source

Former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell has been named director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The institute was established in 1966 as a memorial tot President John F. Kennedy. It’s mission is to engage students on a nonpartisan basis to promote their interest in public service and leadership.

Purcell, who was mayor of Nashville from 1999 to 2007, will assume the post Sept. 1.

Purcell has more than 30 years of experience in public service, law and higher education quick payday loans.

Source

U.K. private equity executives are at their most pessimistic in five years about takeover activity amid a drought in buyout loans, according to a survey of executives by the accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP.

Almost two thirds of the venture capitalists polled expect a decline in the number of takeovers completed in the next 12 months, compared with 10 percent expecting a fall a year earlier, Grant Thornton said in an e-mail today. Firms are also putting asset sales on hold and waiting for the economy to improve so they can reap the profit they originally targeted, according to David Ascott, the accounting firm's head of private equity.

The surge in U.S. subprime mortgage defaults has roiled the credit markets that private equity firms depend on for the loans to finance deals free instant credit score estimator. Banks are still clearing a backlog of unsold buyout loans that peaked at $350 billion last year. At the same time, a slowing economy makes it harder to find buyers for investments made before the credit crunch.

“There have been many private equity deals caught out due to the credit crunch and rapidly changing economic situation,'' Ascott said. “Business values have dropped and certain sectors face a tumultuous short-term outlook.''

Grant Thornton polled 100 British firms on May 15.

Source

Spencer Dale, named the Bank of England's chief economist by Mervyn King yesterday, spent the last two years getting lessons on monetary policy from Ben S. Bernanke.

Dale attended most of the Federal Open Market Committee's meetings during his time as an adviser to the Fed, a period that covered the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. Before that, he was King's private secretary and led the U.K. central bank's economic-forecasting division.

King defeated calls from lawmakers to tap officials with experience in the finance industry, arguing that people within the bank should get a shot at promotion. Dale, one of only two policy makers appointed by King, joins the Monetary Policy Committee during the worst bout of inflation in at least 11 years. The other seven members are installed by the government.

“This is giving Mervyn more credibility,'' said Steven Bell, chief economist at GLC Ltd. and a former U.K. Treasury official. “You want the central bank to have more authority and this gives it a more hawkish tilt, but just a tilt.''

Dale, 41, replaces Charles Bean, who was promoted to deputy governor after helming the bank's economic research since 2000. The position of chief economist is more significant than at many central banks because the occupant votes on interest rates, and because the bank is obliged by law to meet an inflation target.

Bean, 54, began his fourth term on the rate-setting panel last June. In 93 rate decisions, he voted 16 times for a reduction, and eight times for an increase. He wanted lower rates than the majority in five of the six occasions he was outvoted by the committee.

King Unflinching

The rate-setting panel faces the most challenging period since its creation in 1997, King said this week. He said policy makers won't flinch in their fight to control to consumer prices, which will require economic growth to slow and living standards to slip. Inflation breached the government's 3 percent target in May.

“I am extremely pleased that the bank has been able to promote Spencer Dale from the immensely talented pool of economists we have within the bank,'' King said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. His stint at the Fed “will also bring valuable international experience,'' King said.

The Fed gave Dale a two-year appointment in June 2006 as an adviser to the Division of Monetary Affairs free credit report.com. The Bank of England requested Dale's assignment, aiming to broaden his experience.

Special Access

While it's not unusual for the U.S. central bank to welcome economists from its counterparts and allow its own staffers to take leave for overseas assignments, Dale was granted access most visitors don't get: He attended 12 of 16 regularly scheduled meetings of the interest-rate-setting FOMC and sat in specifically for discussions of changes to communicating the Fed's economic forecasts, according to minutes of the sessions.

Those talks culminated in the November 2007 announcement that the Fed would double the frequency of its policy makers' forecasts to quarterly, the same as the Bank of England. The Fed also added a third year to projections and now provides more- detailed explanations of risks to the outlook and historical accuracy.

Dale was awarded a masters degree in economics from the University of Warwick, the Bank of England said. He received his bachelors degree from the University of Wales. Dale is married with two children. He wasn't immediately available for comment.

Dale is “a very affable person,'' said Danny Gabay, an economist at Fathom Financial Consulting in London who formerly worked with him at the bank. “What strikes you about him is his unbridled energy and enthusiasm.''

Forecasting Team

Apart from his time in King's office, Dale worked closely with the governor when he led the bank's forecasting team.

Andrew Clare, professor of finance at Cass Business School in London and a former colleague of Dale's, compared the two of them to Ed Balls, the former Treasury adviser and now government minister, and Gordon Brown when he was chancellor of the exchequer. Balls helped devise the U.K.'s monetary policy framework.

“People at the bank have always said that he is the Ed Balls of the Bank of England,'' said Clare. “He is to King what Balls was to Brown,'' said Clare.

They don't agree on everything. Gabay says Dale supports Chelsea soccer club, while King is an avid fan of rival team Aston Villa.

Source

Waytronx Inc. on Wednesday appointed Colt Melby to its board of directors.

Melby will serve as Tualatin-based Waytronx's (OYCBB: WYNX) chairman of the board.

Melby is a founding member of Melby Brothers Performance Investments, which last September led the investment of $1.2 million to help turn around the struggling company formerly known as OnScreen Technologies Inc.

Also in September, Melby's brother and partner, Cliff, became chief operating officer of Waytronx pay day loans.

Waytronx is a provider of openly licensable advanced systems cooling solutions.

Source

China's industrial-production growth accelerated on rising exports, signaling that the world's fourth-biggest economy is weathering a global slowdown.

Output rose 16 percent in May from a year earlier after gaining 15.7 percent in April, the statistics bureau said today. That matched the median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Overseas shipments surged last month and retail-sales growth was close to the highest in nine years, keeping factories busy even as the deadliest earthquake in 32 years disrupted output in Sichuan province. The shortening of a weeklong May holiday to a three-day break boosted production.

“This is just a temporary rebound because of the extra working days,'' said Sun Mingchun, an economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong. “With global demand slowing, industrial production will trend down this year.''

The yuan traded at 6.9028 versus the dollar as of 11:01 a.m. in Shanghai, after closing at 6.9018 on June 13.

Chinese output growth is more than double the pace in India, the world's second-fastest growing major economy. Production in that country rose 7 percent in April from a year earlier.

Global growth will slow to 1.8 percent this year, the weakest pace since 2002, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said this month. The figure is for the OECD's 30 members. China's economy will ease to a 10 percent expansion after growing 11.9 percent in 2007, it said.

Quake Reconstruction

Sichuan's small role in China's manufacturing limited the May 12 disaster's effect on production. Quake reconstruction work is boosting output of some products, with state-owned steelmaker Baosteel Group Corp payday advance lender. making more color-coated sheets.

Raw-coal production rose 18.5 percent in May from a year earlier after gaining 13.9 percent in April. Crude-oil output climbed 1.8 percent after increasing 0.5 percent.

Strength in production, retail sales and exports may encourage the central bank to implement the “forceful measures'' that it said last week were needed to stop prices from rising excessively.

“With export and domestic consumption holding up, China's policy makers are more concerned about inflation than economic growth,'' said Paul Tang, chief economist at Bank of East Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong.

No. 1 Challenge

Rising prices are the economy's biggest challenge in 2008, the government says. Producer prices jumped 8.2 percent last month, the largest increase in more than three years, signaling pressure for inflation to rebound after easing from close to a 12-year high. Consumer prices rose 7.7 percent in May.

The central bank has ordered lenders to set aside a record 17.5 percent of deposits as reserves from June 25 to try to prevent excess cash in the financial system from fueling inflation. It has also allowed the yuan to gain 5.8 percent versus the dollar this year.

China's export growth accelerated to 28.1 percent in May from a year earlier. Retail sales gained 21.6 percent.

For the first five months, industrial production climbed 16.3 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said. China's economy expanded 10.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.

Source

Citing drought conditions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday declared a state of emergency in Sacramento County and eight other Central Valley counties.

The action builds on his statewide drought declaration last week. The regional proclamation orders state agencies to help public water agencies drill new wells or improve existing wells and water delivery systems. It also requires the state Department of Water Resources and state Water Resources Control Board to expedite water rights changes and water transfer requests, including the transfer of groundwater through the California Aqueduct to San Joaquin Valley farms bad credit payday advance.

DWR will work with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on "operational changes" to State Water Project facilities, including the San Luis Reservoir and southern California reservoirs, to permit additional water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley.

The proclamation also covers San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties.

Source